Celtic reaction: The player who saw pictures, Aberdeen's Pittodrie changes, why Rodgers 'would be here all day'

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers and defender Stephen Welsh following the win over Aberdeen.

We pick out three “extras” from the match at Pittodrie in what was an entertaining encounter between two attack-minded teams:

McGregor hails fellow academy graduate

Idle in a competitive sense since early October, Celtic central defender Stephen Welsh was summoned from the bench to replace the injury Cameron Carter-Vickers at half time. The 23-year-old was impressive and caught the eye of his captain Callum McGregor. “I thought he was outstanding when he came on,” said the midfielder. “He really calmed the game. He saw the pictures, could see the passes and that settled us and got us playing into our rhythm. I think Stephen has been outstanding, especially as an academy product. It is always difficult. You come in, you play well, you drop out the team, you come back, you drop out the team again. You have to be resilient, especially as an academy player. It is always easy for the club to go and buy players and it is a real challenge for the home-grown ones. But Welshy’s attitude has been outstanding and his quality is getting better. He is growing in stature. He is a player who can be really important for us as well.”

Cosmetic changes

Pittodrie has been given a couple of improvements. The South Stand has not one, but two new electronic scoreboards – just in case you lose track of all the goals – and the dugouts have been remodelled, apparently to comply with UEFA regulations. So gone are the old bunkers, replaced with swish seats.

Brendan holds court

It’s like Brendan Rodgers has never been away from Scottish football, eloquently holding court with the press in his post-match debrief. The Northern Irishman speaks well and answered all manner of questions in a lengthy exchange, from the chances of an Ange Postecoglou-led raid of his players to comparing the Aberdeen weather with Andalusia. Rodgers has certainly slotted back into the role of Celtic manager and with the promise of more improvement – “"There's so many [improvements], I would be here all day if I spoke to you about them” – there is excitement at Celtic Park once more